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| It's not all your fault, Brandon. |
Browns fans have short fuses and
long memories. One bad game - hell, one bad quarter - is often all it takes for
us to turn on a player, particularly if that person is a quarterback, a
position that for all intents and purposes has been vacant ever since Bill
Belichick determined that Bernie Kosar's skills had diminished.
It's quite possible that this town
will never forget the pass Brandon
Weeden threw at the 4:36 mark of the fourth quarter in today's 31-17 loss
against the Lions. That is, Weeden's flippy backhand schoolyard throw will be
archived and wondered over on the North
Coast
However, today's disheartening
defeat had many fathers, even if Weeden's terrible toss was the granddaddy of
them all. Fans don't need to forget (or forgive) Weeden for a play that
epitomized his failed tenure under center, but it wasn't his fault that the
Browns only ran the ball five time in the second half, or that the middle of
Ray Horton's defense was sliced up by Reggie Bush and some quick
decision-making by Detroit QB Matthew Stafford.
Though we may be sick of Weeden's
confused bumpkin face, poor pocket presence, and the way his eyes magnetize
onto a single receiver, the team's 100-plus yards worth of penalties and lack of
offensive creativity in the second half should not be laid entirely at the rangy
redhead's door.
Don't get it twisted: Weeden is
done in Cleveland ,
and rightly so. It's agonizing to watch him go through his slow-motion
progressions, and he simply doesn't have the mental fortitude to survive the
speed of NFL defenses. Still, today's loss was a full team effort, and that's
something Browns fans must remember.